


The Legend of Bitey

by notgeorgelucas



Series: Life on Air Temple Island [26]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Air Temple Island, Gen, spidersnakes, why did it have to be spidersnakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29523573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notgeorgelucas/pseuds/notgeorgelucas
Summary: The heartwarming tale of a boy and his spidersnake.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Pema/Tenzin (Avatar)
Series: Life on Air Temple Island [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/348122
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	The Legend of Bitey

“Wow.” Bumi knelt down and took a closer look at the shriveled, dried-out husk of a long-dead lemur. Based on the position of the hands and mouth, it had clearly been gnawing on something and paid the ultimate price for it. “That’s…something, you know? You think it might have been Chewie?”

“That was my guess,” Tenzin nodded, keeping his distance from the corpse. It was after all the respectful thing to do. The fact that it gave him the creeps and still had a faint whiff of…something…had absolutely nothing to do with it.

“So where did the construction crew find him?” Bumi asked.

“Well…” Tenzin hesitated. “Do you remember that hallway near the back of the house? The one where the lights would flicker every now and then, and…”

“The smell?” Bumi rose to his feet. “Yeah. That drove Mom nuts.” He rubbed his chin and frowned. “But didn’t she make Uncle Sokka and Zuko poke their heads up there to see if something was causing it? And they swore up and down they hadn’t seen a thing?”

“Exactly.”

Bumi bit his lip. “Huh.”

“Of course,” Tenzin said a moment later, “if this is what they encountered when they looked up there, I can certainly understand their reluctance to tell Mother.”

“She would have immediately demanded they get it out of there,” Bumi agreed. He sighed and shook his head. “Poor little guy must have crept up there and gnawed on the wiring.” He glanced at his younger brother. “Do we tell Mom?”

“I’m certainly not going to. You know what she’ll do to Zuko if we do.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at any rate,” Pema declared briskly, “now that you’ve seen it, we can have the work crew dispose of it. The sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Poor little guy,” Bumi repeated. “I’d always wondered what had happened to him. I kind of hoped he’d ended up with a happy life like Bitey, you know?”

Pema blinked. “Bitey? You named your lemurs Chewie and Bitey?”

“Oh no,” Tenzin said, shaking his head. “Bitey wasn’t a lemur. Bitey was a spidersnake.”

“…what?”

Bumi shrugged. “It’s a long story…”

*****

“AAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!”

The Avatar burst into the master bedroom. “Katara? What’s wrong? Are you all right?” He glanced around, looking for any possible danger that threatened his beloved wife. Though come to think of it, it’d have to be a pretty damn powerful danger to threaten her, much less make her scream like that.

And she was still looking pretty wild-eyed, to be honest. “DID YOU SEE IT?”

Aang blinked. “See what?”

“THE DAMNED SPIDERSNAKE!”

He slowly moved out of his defense stance. “Spidersnake?”

“YOU HEARD ME!”

“Yeah, I did. They probably heard you in Ba Sing Se.” Aang scratched his head and bit his lip. “Sweetie…are you sure…?”

“ **OF COURSE, I’M SURE!** ” Katara pointed at the bathroom door. “I GOT OUT OF THE BATH AND WALKED IN HERE, AND THE BIGGEST DAMNED SPIDERSNAKE I’D EVER SEEN WAS STANDING THERE WITH A RAT HALF-STUFFED IN ITS MOUTH!”

“Sweetie…”

“DON’T YOU ‘SWEETIE’ ME! I KNOW WHAT I SAW!”

Aang hesitated. “Well, it’s just that spidersnakes aren’t native to this area, so…”

“IT WAS A FUCKING SPIDERSNAKE, AANG! GO FIND IT AND KILL IT! NOW!”

“Sweetie, I made a promise to never take a life, remember…?”

“NOW!!!!!!!”

Aang nodded frantically and all but flew out the door, which Katara then slammed shut and double-locked. He stood there for a moment or two, scratching his head and trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together. “How would a spidersnake end up here? I mean, they’re native to the desert, and I haven’t been there since…since…oh. Of course.” He nodded his head, sighed, and headed for the stairs.

“Bumi.”

*****

“I hear him coming, Bumi!” Tenzin said nervously.

“Yeah, I do too. Okay, just play it cool and casual. We can do this.” Bumi flopped down on his bed and picked up a handy book, opening it to a random page. Tenzin sat down on the floor, assumed meditation position and closed his eyes just before the knock on the door came.

“Son? Mind if I come in?”

“Oh, hey dad! Yeah, it’s cool!” Bumi coolly looked up from his reading and smiled. “What’s up? Tenzin and I were just sitting around.”

“I’m meditating,” Tenzin said solemnly.

“I can see that, son,” Aang nodded. “Boys, I suppose you heard your mother a few minutes ago…”

“Father, they probably heard her in Ba Sing Se,” Tenzin snorted.

“Yeah, what was up with that, Dad?” Bumi asked. “She sounded pretty freaked.”

“Well…she told me that she’d seen something that had startled her.” Aang paused a moment. “A spidersnake.”

“A spidersnake?” Bumi frowned. “Why would a spidersnake be here on the island, Dad?”

“They aren’t native to this area,” Tenzin noted. “They live in the desert, don’t they, Bumi?”

“Yeah, Tenzin, they do. Dad, has Mom been under a lot of pressure lately or something? I mean, maybe she’s starting to see things?”

Aang shook his head. “No, she was very sure. She said it had a huge rat in its mouth.”

Bumi considered this. “Well, Dad, you gotta admit that we’ve had a mouse problem around here for quite a while.”

“That’s true, son, but up until now I’d figured that the cats we brought over from the city were taking care of that.” Aang smiled and leaned against the wall. “Bumi, do you remember that trip we took to the desert three months ago?”

“Oh yeah, Dad. You had to talk to the Sandbenders.”

Aang nodded. “That’s right. Bumi…while we were out there…did you…find any special souvenirs to bring home?”

“Besides sand?”

“Yes…”

Bumi shrugged. “It’s not like there was really anything else out there, Dad.”

“You didn’t happen to find…something like…a spidersnake?”

“Father,” Tenzin said very seriously, “you’d don’t think Bumi would do something so foolish? I mean, aren’t spidersnakes extremely venomous?”

“Yes, son, they are.”

“Well then,” Tenzin noted reasonably, “if there were a spidersnake here, there’d be some poisoned people on the island, wouldn’t there?”

“Possibly,” Aang conceded. “But given the fact that the only two airbenders in the world live here…do we really want to take a chance? Bumi…what if Tenzin was bitten? Would you want that on your conscience?”

“Bitey would never do that!” Tenzin abruptly declared. “He’s our…” Realization sank in. “Oh. Sorry, Bumi.”

“It’s okay, Tenzin,” Bumi said, his shoulders slumping. “He’s under my bed, Dad.”

“Any chance I could meet...Bitey, was it?” Aang asked evenly. He had to admit to a certain level of curiosity.

“I don’t know,” Bumi replied. “He’s just had a big meal, and to be honest, I think Mom scared the crap out of him.”

“Your mom is good at that,” Aang replied. “Could you see if he’d be interested in coming out?”

“Yeah, I can try.” Bumi knelt down on the floor, lifted a bed cover and said something very softly to the shadows. A moment later, the biggest damn spidersnake Aang had ever seen slowly emerged from his dark haven. Avatar and predator regarded one another warily.

“Well,” Aang finally said.

“I found him while you were talking to the sandbenders,” Bumi explained. “He’d hurt his leg and couldn’t run or hunt. I felt sorry for him, so I found him a rat or two and managed to get him into my backpack. And when we got home, I asked Kya to fix him up.”

“Kya,” Aang echoed. Oh, this was just getting better and better. Might be best to leave that detail out when reporting back to Katara. “So, he’s been hunting here for three months?”

“Yeah. He’s been taking care of the rats for us.” Bumi snorted disdainfully. “It’s not like the cats have been any use, you gotta admit.”

“Oh, you should see him go!” Tenzin enthused. “We took him down to the bison caves, and he cleaned them out in no time! He was able to get down into the little burrows the mice like to hide in! It was awesome!”

Aang blinked a few times at his youngest son’s unexpected bloodlust. “I see.”

Bumi looked up at his father. “Dad,” he said quietly. “You’re not going to let Mom kill him, are you? I mean, he hasn’t hurt anyone, and if you look at it, he’s actually done us a big favor by eating all those mice and rats, right?”

“You know how Appa and Oogi hate mice,” Tenzin said excitedly. “They run across their feet, or get caught between their toes, or accidentally get squished underfoot…”

“I…” Aang considered the possibilities, then sighed. “Let me see what I can do, son.”

*****

Katara was dressed and waiting at the foot of the stairs. She had an iron grip on Kya’s shoulder. “Well?” she asked impatiently. “Is there a spidersnake up there?”

“Yes,” Aang said after a moment.

“Is it dead?” she demanded.

“Sweetie, you know how I feel about that…”

Katara rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Fine. Kya and I are heading over to Sokka and Suki’s place. We will return once you’ve gotten rid of that thing, one way or the other.”

“But Mommmmm!” Kya protested. “I don’t wanna go!”

“Shush, Kya.” They headed for the door, Katara all but dragging her daughter along. “I want Tenzin out of here, too,” she added over her shoulder. “For spirits’ sake, I can’t believe you’d let him within arm’s length of that thing, considering. What are you thinking?”

“Tenzin will be fine,” Aang assured her. “Bumi won’t let it hurt his brother.”

“Really?” Katara snorted. “If Bumi had any sense, he wouldn’t have ever brought the damned thing here in the first place! Are you really that confident about Tenzin’s safety?”

“Is Tenzin gonna get poisoned?” Kya squealed. “Can I watch?”

“No.”

“Awww...”

“If anything happens to him,” Katara warned, “It’s on you. You can go back to being the last Airbender in the world, because my pregnancy days are over.”

Aang sighed and held his hands up in supplication. “It’s okay, Katara. I’ll take care of it,” he agreed. “I’ll let you know when this is taken care of.”

“It had better be today,” Katara ordered him. “ **Today** , Aang.”

“Sure thing, sweetie.” The door slammed shut, and Aang sank into the nearest chair. “Spirits…”

*****

Over the years, Aang found flying around with Appa helped give him new perspectives on the various problems besetting him. The detachment from the earth below and the primal sensation of the wind whipping around him…there was nothing quite like it, and somehow it managed to help him find the best path forward, time and time again.

Republic City lay sprawled out below him like an intricate puzzle. Aang smiled at the sight, proud beyond measure at what he and Zuko had managed to bring about. The city was a thriving, growing concern now; over there was the city government building, below him was the community park, and a few miles to the right sat the brand-new zoo and research center…

 _Chalk one up for flight inspiration_ , Aang thought to himself as he steered Appa toward the zoo.

*****

“Boys,” Aang announced a few hours later as he walked into Bumi’s bedroom. “Let’s take a little trip. Bumi, could you put Bitey in your backpack?”

“Uhh, sure Dad,” his son nodded slowly, eyeing his father carefully. “You’re not planning on…you know…hurting him, are you?”

“You promised you wouldn’t,” Tenzin joined in.

“I promise you, it’s nothing like that,” Aang assured them. “Bitey will be fine. Get him into your bag and meet me in the courtyard. Appa’s waiting for us.”

Much to Aang’s surprise, though, his bison wasn’t the only one there waiting. “Sokka?”

“Hey, Aang.” His brother-in-law gave a nonchalant wave.

“What brings you here?” Aang asked, glancing back to see his sons trundling through the front door. “Not to be rude, but we’re going over to the city in a minute, so…”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Sokka nodded. “That’s why I’m here. Sis says Bumi has a spidersnake?”

Aang nodded uneasily.

Sokka leaned forward conspiratorially. “Can I see it?”

*****

“Boys, this is Doctor Feng,” Aang said. “Doctor, these are my boys, Tenzin and Bumi. And I believe you’ve met my brother-in-law, Sokka.”

“I’m very pleased to make your acquaintances, boys,” Feng smiled. “Your father explained the situation to me, and as it turns out I have a problem of my own that you might be able to assist me with. This way, please.” He guided them over to a large, desert-like enclosure. “This is the zoo’s future spidersnake exhibit.”

Bumi nodded thoughtfully. “It’s pretty nice, sir.”

“We’re very proud of it. It’s our belief that the more we can provide our animals with a familiar environment, the happier they’ll be. Now, at the moment we have several spidersnakes in our possession…” He motioned to an aide on the other side of the enclosure. “Here they are now.”

“Wow, Bumi!” Tenzin gushed. “Look at them!”

“Yeah, that’s really neat,” Bumi said slowly. “But sir,” he said, turning to Feng, “I’m not sure where Bitey fits in with all this.” The bag in his arms wriggled slightly.

“Actually, he’s rather critical to our long-term goals,” Feng replied. “You see, the spidersnakes in there are all females. They’re not as fiercely aggressive as the males, which makes them somewhat easier to obtain out in the wild. But without a male, it will be impossible to sustain a viable colony.”

“Oh. So Bitey…”

Feng nodded. “Exactly. Could you possibly release him? I’d like to get a closer look at him.” Bumi nodded and opened the wriggling bag. To everyone’s shock Bitey exploded into the air and soared in a graceful arc (for a spidersnake) straight into the enclosure. The female spidersnakes immediately surrounded him, carefully inspecting the newcomer.

“Most impressive,” Feng murmured, smiling approvingly.

“Look, Bumi!” Tenzin exclaimed. “Bitey’s making friends!”

“Uh, yeah…he sure is,” Bumi said slowly.

Sokka snickered. “Looks like Bitey’s a ladies’ man,” he told Aang, nudging him in the ribs for good measure.

“Takes one to know one,” the Avatar replied, grinning.

Feng turned toward Bumi. “Would you be willing to let Bitey live here?” he asked. “I promise you he’ll be well taken care of, and as you can see, he’s already established himself in the colony. You can visit him any time you’d like, day or night, and should you ever change your mind we’ll make arrangements to return him to you. What do you say, young man?”

Bumi nodded. “He does like it here, and this way Mom won’t be trying to kill him every chance she gets.”

“Oh yeah. Been there done that,” Sokka muttered to himself.

“So yeah, Bitey can stay,” Bumi concluded.

“Thank you, young man,” Feng beamed as he shook Bumi’s hand. “I cannot thank you or your father enough for this.”

“Whew,” Aang whistled quietly. “Crisis resolved; balance achieved.”

“Katara appeased,” Sokka snickered. “Of course, no bloodshed, but hey, she’ll live.”

“Look, Father!” Tenzin exclaimed, pointing into the enclosure. “One of them is giving Bitey a ride on her back!”

Aang sighed. “Tenzin, we’ve discussed this…”

******

“…so that’s the story,” Bumi finished. “Bitey lived a very long and happy life at the zoo, and his descendants are there to this day. He always ran up to the wall whenever I visited him, too.”

“That’s quite a tale,” Pema smiled. “You weren’t ever tempted to take him back?” Bumi and Tenzin glanced guiltily at one another. “Oh dear…what?”

“Well…” Bumi said slowly. “You know, with Bitey gone, the rodent population started growing again. And the cats were no use whatsoever. So…for a few years after that…well, whenever Mom and Dad went travelling…Tenzin and I kind of snuck Bitey and a few of his kids out and brought ‘em here for a couple days.” Bumi shrugged. “Hey, it worked.”

“And your mother never caught on?”

“Mother knew there were times not to ask questions,” said Tenzin. “Particularly when she knew she probably wouldn’t like the answers.”

“But then I headed off into the United Forces, and Aunt Mai gave Dad a few of her palace cats, so Bitey was retired from active duty,” Bumi said.

“I can’t believe you kept him here for as long as you did,” Pema said, shaking her head. “Well, thank the spirits you don’t do that anymore. At any rate, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to the abbess and see how things are going while we’re out of our house.”

Bumi and Tenzin watched her walk away. “She took that pretty well, I thought,” Bumi remarked.

Tenzin nodded. “That’s Pema. She’s very practical and level-headed.”

“Probably a good thing we didn’t mention Hoppy the tarantulatoad.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Tenzin agreed.

“Especially since he got loose and we never found him.”

“She’d just worry.”

“I mean, they live for a long time. For all we know, he’s still around here somewhere.”

“Best not to think about it,” Tenzin suggested.

“Yeah. Let’s get Korra or Lin over to give Chewie a proper burial.”

“I’ll call Lin.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this story ties into one particular scene found in another one of my stories, "This Old House". You'll know which scene if you go back and look at it, but it's not necessary. 
> 
> My wife and I had so much fun plotting this one. We desperately wanted to name the zoo director after the legendary "True Facts" Zefrank1 on YouTube, but the best name I could come up with was "Zhi", and she pointed out that OurImpavidHeroine had dibs on that one. Poot.
> 
> I had a rough time coming up with an ending I liked, but I let the story sit for a day or two until my sick subconscious came up with an idea. I'm pretty pleased with this one, which should tell you something about me.
> 
> I kind of like writing these stories about Bumi, Tenzin and Kya's younger days, and I think there's one or two more down the pike if all goes well. Hope you enjoy this one.


End file.
